Date: Wed, 10 Feb 1999 09:59:47 -0800 From: Eros Publishing Subject: Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEBSITE MEMORIALIZES TRANS DEAD "Remembering the Dead" takes a reverent look at those killed by hate, prejudice. SAN FRANCISCO -- February 8, 1999 All Rita Hester wanted to do was live her life just like any other woman. When Hester, a transgendered woman who lived in Boston, was found murdered by multiple stab wounds in her own apartment late last November, this was more than Gwen Smith, another woman living across the country, could bear. Ms. Smith, a professional Web designer living in the San Francisco Bay Area, did not want to do a project relating to violence and prejudice against transgendered individuals. She had to. Ms. Smith's desire for justice led to her creation of the "Remembering Our Dead" website, a memorial to individuals killed for the simple "crime" of trying to be oneself. For example, 9-year-old Steven Wilson, taunted for playing with "girl's toys," who was raped and drowned by a neighbor child. Or Tyra Hunter, taunted with racial and transphobic slurs and neglected by emergency personnel, who died from inadequate medical care. Or Debra Forte, who suffered multiple six-inch stab wounds to the chest, any one of which would have been sufficient to kill her. As Ms. Smith notes, "When one looks at how many transpeople are murdered, and considers how much complacency there is towards these murders, one realizes that something needs to be done." Currently, the stories on the website date back as early as 1969, and as recent as February 6th, 1999. With a reported 60% of transgender individuals having been the victim of a violent assault, it is doubtful that this site will stop growing anytime soon. Hopefully, through public education and awareness, this issue will receive the attention it deserves, along with more well-publicized accounts such as the murder of Matthew Shepard. The "Remembering Our Dead" Website can be found at http://www.gender.org/remember/ . Gwen Smith can be reached at gwen@gender.org. http://www.leatherdaddy.com/aubrey.htm